Elan Corp's 2nd Quarter Reflects Athena Acquistion

Irish pharmaceutical company Elan Corporation has announced an increase of 39% in net income and earnings per share for the second quarter of 1996 before a one-time charge of $484.8 million relating to the acquisition of Athena Neurosciences. This charge largely represents the value of the acquired in-process research at Athena, which has been written off in the income statement.

Net income for the quarter was $28.5 million, EPS was $0.29, and revenues amounted to $83.3 million, up 70%. Excluding the revenue contribution from Athena, the underlying growth rate was 36%. Revenue from product sales rose 78%, largely reflecting the launch of Naprelan (naproxen).

Donal Geaney, president and chief executive at Elan, said: "the merger with Athena was completed on July 1 and the task of integrating the enlarged Elan group is now underway. At the same time, a process of review and refocusing of the drug delivery business is in progress to maximize the opportunities for our drug delivery technologies and to ensure that our manufacturing facilities operate at maximum efficiency."